Allison Turner
Honey is healthier than sugar and chicken broth cures a common cold — well-known facts most of us grew up knowing from childhood. But what about the truth of such health myths? Here are the 7 biggest in the fact check.
Some health myths just sound logical, some are so old that they’ve become firmly established and still others sound too good to be true – like “chocolate makes you smart!” for example. Almost all of us these days go with the trend of living as healthy as possible, sometimes forgetting to check the veracity of “facts” that are considered healthy or unhealthy. So here are 7 of the biggest health myths in the fact check from Stiftung Warentest.
Honey is healthier than sugar
For many, honey is a tried and tested substitute for sugar: Of course, it’s also healthier! Or? The fact is that honey consists of 80 percent simple sugars – just like table or granulated sugar. So if you want to lose weight or don’t want to favor an existing disease that is influenced by sugar, you are wrong with honey as a healthier sugar substitute. However, honey has a proven antibacterial and experience-based beneficial effect: Anyone who uses tea with honey for a mild sore throat is certainly not doing anything wrong.
Social media withdrawal makes you happier
It’s hardly a secret that social media has had an enormous impact on us and our lifestyle today. But does a week of Facebook withdrawal really make you happier? According to a study by the University of Copenhagen, yes! Above all, rather passive users who post little or not at all themselves run the risk of feeling increasingly dissatisfied and unhappy in the face of the never-ending stream of successful, beautiful and incredibly happy people. A little abstinence from Instagram and Co. could definitely enrich or ground us and is at least worth a little experiment.
It’s hardly a secret that social media has had an enormous impact on us and our lifestyle today. But does a week’s withdrawal from Facebook really make you happier? According to a study by the University of Copenhagen, definitely yes! Above all, rather passive users who post little or not at all themselves run the risk of feeling increasingly dissatisfied and unhappy next to the never-ending stream of successful, beautiful and incredibly happy people. A little abstinence from Instagram and Co. could definitely enrich or ground us and is at least worth a little experiment.
Chocolate makes you smart
Let’s be honest: We like to believe every argument FOR chocolate so much that we’re not really keen on fact-checking… So beware, all chocolate lovers: You should just stop reading now and rely on the placebo effect. Although there is an American long-term study that connects chocolate consumption with cognitive abilities, it is unfortunately as little differentiated as it is meaningful. We decided to look at it this way: After all, it hasn’t been proven that chocolate DOES NOT make you smart!
Let’s be honest: We like to believe every argument FOR chocolate so much that we’re not really keen on fact-checking… So attention, all chocolate lovers: you should just stop reading now and bet on the placebo effect. Although there is an American long-term study that connects chocolate consumption with cognitive abilities, it is unfortunately as little differentiated as it is meaningful. We decided to look at it this way: after all, it hasn’t been proven that chocolate is NOT smart!
Washing hands with antibacterial soaps is more hygienic
Basic rules of washing hands: the warmer the water, the better, and antibacterial soaps ensure hygienic cleanliness. Hmm – nope! We can easily wash our hands with cold water and regular soap – neither a higher temperature nor antibacterial agents in the soap will eliminate more bacteria on our hands. However, what makes a big difference: the length of the soaping and rinsing. The longer the process takes, the fewer bacteria remain on the hands.
Chicken broth helps fight a cold
Chicken broth is the best remedy for a cold. Well, we don’t know if it really is the best remedy, but at least laboratory tests show that chicken broth reduces the white blood cell count, which increases in inflammatory diseases. This definitely works in the test tube and we like to think that the delicious broth has the same effect on us. Plus: It is undisputed that warm drinks and a lot of drinking in general help with colds. In case of illness you do something good with a decent broth one way or the other.
Lack of sleep leads to obesity
It is no myth that lack of sleep and weight gain are linked: several studies have shown that people who sleep less than six hours a night are at greater risk of gaining weight. In addition, the less sleep, the higher the weight gain. However, gaining weight is favored by lack of sleep, but not to a drastic extent. In addition: If you sleep less, you naturally have more time to eat, which could be the explanation for the one or two kilos more…
Sport eliminates the negative effects of alcohol
Compensating for alcohol with sport sounds good and logical: After all, you should be able to compensate for a small vice by doing something good for your body. That’s what an international research group thought too: Their survey showed that people who drink a lot but also do intensive sport do not have an increased risk of dying prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Of course, this was different for the test persons with the opposite sign (drinking a lot, little sport)… The myth seems to be true, but an overall healthier lifestyle apart from alcohol could also be a reason for the better state of health among the athletes surveyed. However, this factor was not taken into account in the survey.
